George R.R. Martin may be able to keep HBO’s new “Game of Thrones” prequel series “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” from outpacing him like its parent show.
Martin stopped by to talk about “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” and its unlikely origins on the first episode of HBO’s new video companion podcast for the “Game of Thrones” spin-off. Hosted by Jason Concepcion and Greta Johnsen, the podcast’s debut episode features a lengthy sit-down conversation with Martin, in which he teases the possibility of more books for “A Knight of the Seven Kingdom” fans to look forward to in the future.
“If I have the time, there’s more stories to tell about Dunk and Egg and their education and what’s gonna befall them in future years,” Martin noted, referring to the lead heroes of “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” who are played in the forthcoming HBO show by actors Peter Claffey and Dexter Sol Ansell.
Unlike “Game of Thrones,” which is based on Martin’s unfinished “A Song of Ice and Fire” book series, and “House of the Dragon,” which is inspired by the fictional Targaryen history book “Fire & Blood,” “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” Season 1 is based on the Martin-penned 1998 novella “The Hedge Knight.” Set around 100 years before the events of “Game of Thrones,” the novella follows Sir Duncan the Tall, a 7-ft, penniless knight who takes on a young, small squire named Egg.
The novella offers not only a much more limited view of the fantasy land of Westeros than the “Game of Thrones” books, but it also adopts the sole perspective of Sir Duncan the Tall, a.k.a. Dunk. As a result, “The Hedge Knight” offers readers a grounded alternative to the sweeping, feudal scope of the “Song of Ice and Fire” novels, one that prioritizes the perspectives of lowly knights and soldiers over those of royal princes and ambitious throne-seekers.
It is with that in mind that “The Hedge Knight” takes place entirely at a single jousting tournament, a detail which “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” appears to have kept. In fact, the HBO series looks to be about as faithful an adaptation of “The Hedge Knight” as fans could have hoped to see onscreen.
Speaking on HBO’s “Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” podcast, Martin called writing “The Hedge Knight” in between his first two “Game of Thrones” books “one of the best decisions I ever made as a writer.” Martin also touched on the differences in scope between his Dunk and Egg novellas and his “Song of Ice and Fire” books, the latter of which bounce between the perspectives of around a dozen characters.
“Writing a short story or a novella in this case, where you’re focused on one character and you’re just seeing the story through him, that’s a different sort of thing and can be very powerful,” Martin observed.
To date, Martin has just written two sequels to “The Hedge Knight”: 2003’s “The Sworn Sword” and 2010’s “The Mystery Knight.” The first season of “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” is a complete adaptation of “The Hedge Knight,” which suggests that Martin’s published Dunk and Egg novellas have already provided the HBO series with enough material to last at least three seasons.
In 2014, Martin teased two more Dunk and Egg stories with working titles “The She-Wolves of Winterfell” and “The Village Hero” and expressed his intent to “write a whole series of novellas about Dunk and Egg, chronicling their entire lives.” He did not give a specific number of novellas he had in mind, though, noting, “There will be as many novellas as it takes to tell their tale, start to finish.”
However, in the same 2014 blog post, Martin also said he was not prioritizing any of his in-the-works Dunk and Egg stories and was instead focused on finishing his long-awaited sixth “Song of Ice and Fire” novel, “The Winds of Winter,” first. It has been nearly 12 years since Martin wrote that post, though, and with “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” on the verge of premiering, it is possible his unfinished Dunk and Egg novellas have moved higher up his priority list as of late.
In November, HBO renewed “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” for a second season. It is expected to debut sometime in 2027.
“A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” Season 1 premieres Sunday, Jan. 18 on HBO and HBO Max.
The post George R.R. Martin Teases More ‘Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Stories to Come: ‘If I Have the Time’ appeared first on TheWrap.
